The 10 Best Books Based on Video Games

While plenty of games are based on novels, there are also plenty of novels that have been made based on games. Here are some of the better ones you might want to pick up.

Alan Wake

A book based on a game about an author, what’s a better idea than that? The plot itself matches the game, although in some details differs from the actual game, and isn’t considered actual canon. Still, if you were a fan of the game and want a novelization of it or, didn’t want to bother with the game but are curious about story, you’re going to win either way.

Bioshock: Rapture

The novelization of the Bioshock world takes place in the beginning, the start of Rapture up until some of the events of the game. It follows a prosperous city, some new and old characters, and gives more insight and back story to what happened in a variety of locations found in game. It’s rather well done and a must for any Bioshock fan.

Dead Space: Martyr

A prequel to the events in the very first Dead Space, giving history on the church of Unitology (which is pretty much the cause of all the insanity going on) as well as the origin of the Black Marker.

Gears of Wars: Aspho Fields

Taking place between Gears of War 1 and 2, the plot follows two storylines, jumping back and forth between Marcus Fenix’s childhood and a timeline that takes place a week after the events of the first game. It seems the novel is considered canon by Epic Games so it’s a great filler for the in between.

Halo: The Cole Protocol

The Cole Protocol is actually the 6th Halo book that was released but one of the best ones. At this point, it is well into the universe and can’t actually be tied to any sort of timeline among the games events, but it really fleshed out more of the universe overall.

Mass Effect: Revelation

The first book in the Mass Effect universe, Revelation sheds some light on the back story of David Anderson and Saren, as well as Anderson’s connection with Kahlee Sanders (a side character who is run into in Mass Effect 3). It really does suit the Mass Effect world well and is one of the best selling of the novels.

Tomb Raider and The Lost Cult

Although this second novel came out back in 2004, it still holds up pretty well as far as Tomb Raider books go. There are some non-game side characters introduced as well as major enemies that everyone knows from the games.

Uncharted: The Fourth Labyrinth

A stand alone story that has no impact on the games itself, The Fourth Labyrinth is written by Christopher Golden, who is known for a lot of video game to novel and T.V. show to novel adaptations. Because of a brief mention of El Dorado, it’s suspected it takes place before the original game, but nothing has been said about it being in any timeline.

Tom Clancy Splinter Cell: Endgame

For anyone who was a follower of the Splinter Cell books, this one is actually pretty interesting in that it is a retelling of the Conviction novel, but told from the point of view of the pursuing group going after Sam Fisher.

Homefront: Voice of Freedom

Although it won’t win any literary awards, this prequel to the game set the scene and is crammed full of action sequences about a plot that is very close to home for a lot of Americans. OK so it might not be unified Korea that attack but the constant threat of terrorism is really brought home in this book in a very real scenario. If you haven’t played the game then this is a great introduction to the world and will help you connect with the in-game characters.

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The 10 Best Books Based on Video Games

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While plenty of games are based on novels, there are also plenty of novels that have been made based on games. Here are some of the better ones:

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Ian GarstangDecember 17, 2017

Gaming Debugged is a gaming blog covering mainstream and indie gaming, game design and development, news and comment from the games industry.

I like to mix up the content by providing useful information such as 'how to get started in the games industry' with the big questions (down the pub) such as 'who are the biggest game bad guys, which game location would i go on vacation to' and 'which gaming hero could you take home to meet your mum'.

Gaming Debugged (previously Debug Design) is the personal website and blog of indie gamer Ian Garstang, Graphic designer, SEO enthusiast, Indie game designer and developer and creator of Graphic Buffet, an online resource for indie game developers selling vector game graphics, art and assets for use in video games development.